Is it just me, or shouldn’t this NY Times reporter pick up on the fact that NYC is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to enforce “pooper-scooper” laws that it will never recoup through fines? Here’s the financial summary:
The city’s 311 complaint line received about 3,000 complaints about dog waste last year, up from 2,100 in 2004, and so the Sanitation Department has added seven agents to the task force. In the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, they handed out 869 summonses, an increase of roughly 40 percent over the same period a year before.
The maximum fine, $100, which has not changed since the law was passed, is likely to go up soon: A bill increasing it to $250 is awaiting Gov. David A. Paterson’s signature. A spokesman for the governor said on Wednesday that Mr. Paterson was reviewing the measure.
No mention of how fiscally silly this is. Oh, and guess what? Not just fiscally silly, but stupid as well. The NY Times just gave everyone in NYC who is caught directions on how to beat the ticket:
Mr. Otibu approached and asked for picture identification. Without identification, agents cannot write summonses, and a number of dog owners sometimes refuse to show ID or claim to have left it at home. Leaving dog waste is a health code violation, not an arrestable offense, so in those cases, agents have to let the matter drop.
It’s a wonder they write any tickets at all.